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"Mommy was so pretty that she let lots of men hurt her Sometimes they hurt me But most of the time, it was Mome and pain to course throughWillow talk about how much her mother hurt her made me wish that Lacey were still alive so I could kill her with my own bare hands I knew firsthand what it was like to be abused as a kid, and I didn’t want anyone else to have to deal with that pain, especially h I knew she was fucked-up on drugs, I couldn’t iine how Lacey could hurt Willow Of course, when I’d started fucking Lacey, I hadn’t actually been looking for someone maternal She was no Mah I didn’t know her that well, I knew Alex would be ten times the mother that Lacey had ever tried to be Wait Why the fuck was I bringing Alex into all this?

Placing one of my hands on Willow’s shoulder, I said, "You know that you don’t have to ever worry about being hurt again"

"Yeah," she replied tentatively

"I’round Do you understand htened eyes "Look, I didn’t mean to scare you I just want you to understand that you don’t have to worry about being hurt again"

"Okay"

As I brought the brush through her hair again, I sighed "And I’ you I promise you it wouldn’t have happened if I’d been there"

"It’s all right"

"No It really isn’t" A ragged breath shuddered through my body "You didn’t deserve that, and I should’ve been there"

With an intuition that freaked me out, Willow asked, "Did someone hurt you when you were little?"

As I recalled the horrific an to swi on earth I needed was for Willow to seefor her

I counted to ten and tried to collect hts "Deacon?" Willow prompted

"Yeah, my old man used to beat the shit out of me after he beat et us away, but …"

"What happened to your real mommy?"

"She was murdered, just like yours"

"Was it Mean Man?" Willow asked in a whisper

I shook my head "No It was my father"